berlin brief

Chancellor Angela Merkel is struggling with the impact of the Euro crisis.

She is not only facing criticism for what is seen as a going-it-alone approach in the currency crisis by European and international partners. Back in Germany, life has not been easy either, with the Social Democratic and Green opposition’s decision not to support the security umbrella for the Euro zone.

Will Merkel prevail?

Take a look at the newspapers:

“Germany’s Lonely Chancellor” (Spiegel Online International, 24 May 2010).

“Merkel ‘Botched’ Her Duties in Euro Crisis, Says Joschka Fischer” (Spiegel Online International, 24 May 2010).

“Whatever Germany Does, the Euro as We Know It Is Dead” (The Daily Telegraph, 20 May 2010).

“Lawmakers in Germany Back Rescue for Europe” (IHT, 19 May 2010).

“Germany Acts Alone to Protect the Euro and Big Banks Against Speculators” (IHT, 19 May 2010).

“As Guardian of the Euro, Merkel Faces a Difficult Domestic Balancing Act” (IHT, 3 March 2010).

Last week, Germany’s five major institutes for peace research presented their annual Peace Report (”Friedensgutachten”) at the Federal Press Conference and in an evening discussion on 18 May hosted by the Protestant Academy Berlin (Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin).

Panellists at the evening event at the French Cathedral on Gendarmenmarkt included Jochen Hippler of the Institute for Development and Peace at University Duisburg-Essen (INEF), a co-editor of the 2010 Peace Report; Almut Wieland-Karimi, the Director of the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) and an expert on Afghanistan; Winfried Nachtwei, a former MP of the Green Party as well as Sabina Matthay, the ARD’s correspondent in New Delhi. Free Democratic MP Elke Hoffe gave a keynote speech.

The event was jointly organized by the Protestant Academy and the German section of Women in International Security (WIIS.de).

An English summary of the findings of the 2010 Peace Report can be found here.

The berlinbrief draws your attention to a new article on the criminal responsibility of German soldiers in Afghanistan. The text was written by Constantin von der Groeben and has just been  published in the German Law Journal.

Here’s the executive summary:

“On 4 September 2009 an officer of the German Bundeswehr (German Army) in Afghanistan, Colonel Georg Klein, ordered an airstrike against two gas tanker trucks hijacked by the Taliban.  In this airstrike, carried out by U.S. Air Force pilots, up to 140 people were killed,  among them not only members of the Taliban but also many civilians.   This raises the question of criminal responsibility of German soldiers who operate in Afghanistan.  The Generalbundesanwalt (General Public Prosecutor) investigated the case and recently decided to terminate the investigations against Colonel Klein.   Despite this decision not all questions are answered.  I will present a more comprehensive analysis of the case, not only commenting on the decision of the Generalbundesanwalt, but also applying different factual hypotheses leading to a different legal assessment of the case.  At the outset I will look back at the line of cases known as the “Road Block Cases,” and seek to explain how the criminal responsibility of German soldiers has been dealt with in the past.”

For the full text visit the website of the German Law Journal.

On Friday, the German Bundestag will decide in an emergency vote on the austerity measures for Greece by the IMF and the European Union.

The largest economy in the eurozone, Germany will contribute with more than 22 billion euros to the aid package.

The coalition of Chancellor Merkel’s CDU, the Bavarian sister party CSU and the Free Democrats of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will succeed in passing the law with their majority in Parliament. It looks like the Green Party will support the aid package, while the Left Party – as expected – will vote against it.

Chancellor Merkel will be able to travel to Brussels to the emergency meeting of European leaders later on Friday with a “Yes” from Berlin. The most important country in the eurozone will give green light for the kick off of the austerity measures, hoping that the decision will eventually calm down the markets and set Greece back on track.

But the German “Yes” in Brussels will be a weak one: The Social Democrats under their leader Sigmar Gabriel and the head of the SPD parliamentary group, the former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, have decided to deny the government support to the austerity package. They recommended to their MPs on late Thursday evening to abstain from the vote. Read the rest of this entry »

May 9th, 1950 was a revolutionary day for Europe. 60 years ago, the then French Foreign Minister Rober Schuman with a visionary speech in Paris laid the foundations for the peaceful re-unification of the European continent devastated by two wars. Across the European Union, the first week of May is celebrated every year as “European week”.

In 2010, the 60th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration collides with one of the most severe crises in the history of the  European Union. Tomorrow, on the eve of May 9th, European leaders will gather in Brussels to take stock of this week’s events: the billion euro bailout package agreed for Greece, the riots and dead in Athens, and a growing uncertainty about the future of the single currency.

On this day, the berlinbrief recalls the courageous plan of the Union’s founding fathers.

Here is the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 in full length: Read the rest of this entry »

The berlinbrief wants to draw your attention to a number of new reports by non-governmental organisations assessing the German government’s security and arms policies. In the Foreign Ministry, you will often hear the slogan “Aussenpolitik ist Friedenspolitik” (”Foreign Policy is Policy for Peace”). What do the independent institutions say?

You might remember that the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has recently published its annual report, ranking Germany as the world’s third largest arms seller (see berlinbrief, 28 March 2010).

Also, in December 2009, the Joint Conference Church and Development (Gemeinsame Konferenz Kirche und Entwicklung, GKKE) presented its 13th annual report. The report collates publicly available information on German arms and armaments exports of the year 2008 as well as on export licences, and evaluates the data in the context of the government’s commitments within the coalition treaty and the European Union.

Now, the English summary of the GKKE 2009 report is available. The berlinbrief publishes it in full length without additional editing. (see below)

Next week, the “Friedensgutachten” (”Peace Report”), an annual report by five renowned German institutes for peace and conflict research, will be presented in Berlin. The berlinbrief will get back to the issue. For now, a summary in English is available here.

Here is the summary of the 2009 GKKE report in full length: Read the rest of this entry »

US General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, believed it was worth spending 14 hours on a bus to make it from Paris to Berlin last week. Europe was stuck in an ash cloud that stopped most of its air traffic.

McChrystal’s visit on 21 April 2010 came at a crucial moment of Germany’s engagament in Afghanistan. Within a couple of weeks, seven German soldiers have lost their lives there. On 9 April 2010, Chancellor Merkel for the first time attended a funeral for German soldiers that died in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. On 24 April 2010, another one followed.

The German public is increasingly confronted with the realities of the war in Afghanistan. McChrystal’s visit was another reminder of what it means to be part of the ISAF mission’s new “partnering” strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

Both the Federal Chancellery and the Foreign Office in official statements welcomed the United States’ announcement that Washington will no longer be ready to react with a nuclear strike if attacked by conventional weapons.

Chancellor Merkel will travel to Washington next week to attend the Nuclear Summit.

For Spiegel Online International, Eric Kelsey and Candice Novak compiled reactions to the US’s strategic shift in the German print media: Read the rest of this entry »

I want to draw your attention to Spiegel Online International’s Daily Newsletter.

Good way to catch up with what is going on in Germany; and it includes the “World from Berlin” press review.

The “World from Berlin” gives you access to opinions in the leading German newspapers like Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Financial Times Deutschland or Berliner Zeitung.

Take a look at the current issue of the “World from Berlin”.

Subscribe here to the daily newsletter.

Does it surprise you to hear that?

The country that considers itself to be a “civilian power” and that is known for its reservation to send soldiers to missions abroad has doubled its arms exports over the last five years, according to a study published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Download SIPRI’s report here.

Take a look at reactions in the media:

“Germany Now World’s Third-Largest Arms Dealer” (Derek Scally in The Irish Times, 16 March 2010).

“Booming Business: Germany Now World’s Third Largest Arms Exporter” (Spiegel Online International, 15 March 2010).